


Late

by not_ginger



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Trapped In Elevator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-05 23:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18376724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_ginger/pseuds/not_ginger
Summary: “Well,” Jack says and, judging by the sounds, slides down to sit on the floor. “At least you can’t outrun me now.”Sam huffs. “You think this is funny?”





	Late

They miss the deadline.

Waiting for her teams to check in when they’re late is always hard. But this time is different. This time it’s not just one of her teams, this time it's also her husband who is out there.

And she’s stuck on base, unable to do anything but wait.

Walter walks around the control room, glancing at her and pretending to do something, but she ignores him. She doesn’t have to be anywhere else anyway.

It’s almost midnight, so not a lot of people are around, which is a good thing. She’s not frantic or hysterical, but she is quietly losing her mind, and she’d rather have as few witnesses as possible.

The planet is supposed to be safe, they’ve visited it before. Except this time the local authorities requested General O'Neill to go to their planet to renegotiate their treaty. General O'Neill politely explained that he was in fact not a general anymore, but they wouldn’t listen. So Hayes “reinstated” him for just a few days. There are things on that planet they need, like naquadah and some plants with medicinal properties.

And being five hours late is nothing new for SG-1, for any SG-1 it seems. Maybe they finished their negotiations and are partying right now. But still she stands like a statue in the control room, most definitely unnerving everyone who's there with her, waiting for something to happen. _They could've called_.

“Uh, General? Do you want me to dial them again?” Walter asks her from where he sits on his chair in front of the dialing computer.

The last time they tried they couldn’t raise anyone on the radio, and that’s when Sam started to worry.

“What if they dial in when we dial out?” she asks.

Walter sighs. He worries about everyone too. “I’m sure they’re okay.”

Sam keeps her gaze locked on the Stargate. “Yeah.”

 

***

 

One hour and one reluctant trip to the commissary later the sirens finally go off.

Sam runs down the stairs to the control room and anxiously watches the Gate.

“It’s SG-1,” says Walter almost the exact moment the wormhole forms. “Uh.” He taps his earpiece. “Colonel Mitchell says they’re fine and they’re sorry.”

Sam lets out a sigh of relief. “Defense team, stand down,” she says into the microphone and heads down to the gate room as Walter opens the iris.

She feels the adrenaline begin to fade when SG-1 walks through the Gate. Well, most of them walk. Jack and Cameron limp, leaning heavily on Teal'c and Daniel.

“Sam,” Vala says hurriedly, “It’s fine.”

“There was a misunderstanding,” Captain Hailey says stopping in front of Sam. “The local government could’ve handled it without our assistance, but we just couldn’t resist.”

“Hey.” Mitchell glares at her, but Hailey doesn’t even turn to look at him.

“It’s nothing really,” Daniel says. “Sprained ankles and a couple of bruises.”

“I am fine, General Carter,” Teal'c says, maybe a little smugly, and Sam looks at him. He does seem fine, but then her gaze shifts to the man he’s helping to stay on his feet, and her heart skips a beat.

Jack avoids looking at her, and it tells her everything she needs to know.

“Report to the infirmary. Now,” she says, her voice flat. “Captain Hailey, you can tell me what the hell happened.”

 

***

 

Sam calls the infirmary instead of going there herself. Everyone is fine like they said, but Jack and Cameron will have to take it easy for the next week at least.

She thanks the nurse and leans back in her chair.  _Serves them right_ , she thinks.

Now that she knows exactly what happened, the last thing she wants to do is talk to them. She can still feel her insides shake.

“General Carter,” Teal'c says gently and knocks on the open door of her office.

Sam wants to yell at him, but the truth is he’s not their babysitter. He’s not even on SG-1 anymore. “You’re leaving?”

Teal'c inclines his head. “I am. I hope to see you again in two weeks.”

“Oh. Oh yes, of course we'll be there.” She thinks about it for a moment. “Well, I’ll be there.”

Teal'c smiles, just a bit. “Do not hurt O'Neill too severely.”

“He’s hurt enough, alright.”

“Indeed he is.”

She's glad he's leaving. She doesn’t want to talk to him. She can’t blame him, and all she wants at the moment is to yell at someone. “Tell Ishta I said hello.”

“I will,” Teal'c says and nods before heading down to the control room.

Sam takes a deep breath. It’s almost two in the morning. The base is as deserted as it can get. And she really needs to get some sleep.

 

***

 

She thinks she should’ve confined him to the infirmary when the elevator doors open and one grim looking Jack O'Neill greets her.

“There you are. I was just about to head down,” he says following her to the other elevator.

Sam doesn’t say anything. Seeing him safe and sound, albeit with a crutch and a limp and a bruise already forming on his cheek, does nothing to quell her anger.

She’s not quick enough, or maybe mean enough, to get in the elevator before he catches up with her. But she is angry enough to jab the button and flinch away from him when he reaches for her arm.

“Look, I’m sorry.” His voice is quiet, defeated. “But you would’ve done the same.”

This does it. And he’s basically asking for it. Sam turns to look at him, but before she can even open her mouth, the elevator jerks and stops and the lights go out.

“Crap,” she spits out the word.

“Uh, Carter?”

She feels his hand on her arm, but doesn’t shake it off this time. “I don’t know.”

Sam presses the call button, or what she’s pretty sure is the call button, and waits. Nothing happens. She lets out a sound of annoyance and bangs on the doors, expecting someone outside to react to the noise and their voices.

No one does.

“Ah, they’ll get us out in no time,” Jack says cheerfully.

Sam wants to bang her head on the doors now. “It’s two in the morning. There’s almost no one here. It’s entirely possible that we’ll have to wait at least a couple of hours for them to find us.”

“Well,” Jack says and, judging by the sounds, slides down to sit on the floor. “At least you can’t outrun me now.”

Sam huffs. “You think this is funny?”

“No.”

She huffs again. Just because they’re stuck in a dark confined space, and what the hell happened to the emergency lighting, it doesn’t mean they have to talk. Or that she’ll reply to anything he says.

“I’m sorry we worried you,” he says gently. “You don’t have to say anything, but you can at least listen.” It's completely dark and it feels like his voice is coming from everywhere.

“Oh no, I don’t. Not if I stick my fingers in my ears and hum. Loudly.” She gingerly moves to her left and sits down with her back against the wall.

“Okay.”

She expects him to say something. To try to convince her that running off and risking his life was worth it. But he says nothing.

For several minutes they sit in silence and Sam feels herself wind up more and more with every second. “It’s not your job anymore,” she says.

“I know.”

Part of her wishes she could see his face. Another part is glad she can’t. “They could’ve handled it without your help.”

“I guess. But we couldn’t just sit and do nothing.”

“Yes, Jack, you could do exactly that.” Her voice rises with every word. “They had it under control.”

He sounds calm when he replies and for some reason it only irritates Sam more. “They never declined our help.”

“The last time this shit happened, we couldn’t get Daniel home for two months. And we didn’t even know if he was alive.”

“This isn’t the same thing. There were just a few determined troublemakers.”

“So your help wasn’t at all necessary.”

Jack sighs. “Okay, you’re pissed off, I get it.”

“What gave me away,” Sam says, voice laced with sarcasm.

Jack doesn’t reply and she figures he’s finally decided to just let her be angry.

But now she can’t sit still, and it’s so dark that there’s no point in closing or opening her eyes, and it’s making her feel worse. She gets up and starts banging on the doors again. Someone should have figured out by now that they’re missing, or that this elevator isn’t working.

She feels a hand on her waist and freezes. Jack must have gotten to his feet without her hearing it.

“I’m sorry,” he says, sounding sincere. “I couldn’t not do anything. There was a threat of a bomb going off, and there was a bunch of kids in the building.”

She presses her forehead to the elevator doors, the fight going out of her. “You have a kid at home,” she whispers. But this is really over now. She knows neither of them would’ve stood idly by.

“And I was thinking of her. And how I’d want someone to try and do something to help her in case I weren’t there.”

She inhales sharply and turns to him. She can’t see his face in the darkness, but he’s standing close enough that she can feel the heat of his body. “I’d want someone else to help her, too,” she admits and lets him draw her close.

“Everyone’s okay, and the ‘heroes’ will face trial. But the Stakadans are going to come here to renegotiate our treaty,” he says into her hair.

“I know. Hailey told me that. Why didn’t she tell me about the kids?”

Jack shrugs one shoulder. “I dunno. She must not have heard it. She and Daniel found a resident geek, and, well, you know how you geeks get."

Sam wraps her arms around his middle and he presses a kiss to her temple. She does know. “Okay.”

“I am sorry for making you worry.”

“I hate it sometimes. Staying behind,” she admits quietly.

His arms tighten around her. “Tell me about it.” And he had to stay behind while she routinely went out there and risked her life. She has no idea how he managed not to go insane with worry.

They stay like that for a long moment, not saying anything.

“Hey, Sam,” Jack says tentatively. “Do you think if we called someone, they’d come and get us?”

She pulls away, it’s still just as dark, but… “You had your cell with you this whole time?”

There’s movement and suddenly the light from his cell phone screen illuminates the space between them. She squints and stares at him in amazement and indignation.

“You mean this thing?”

Sam closes her eyes and bites her lip. “I hate you.” She takes a deep breath.

He frowns. “Maybe we should stay here a little while longer.”

“Oh, gimme that.” She snatches the phone from his hand and turns away from him. But he just laughs and wraps his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her tightly against his chest. Sam closes her eyes as she presses his phone to her ear, content to stand there in his embrace until someone comes to rescue them.


End file.
